World Cup 2022: Aguero Gives Van Dijk Advice to Messi Ahead of Argentina Netherlands Game

• Argentina and Netherlands will square off in the quarter final of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup
• Argentina beat Australia 2-1 while Netherlands beat USA 3-1 to set up a quarterfinal fixture
• Sergio Aguero has now advised Lionel Messi on how to get past Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk

The second round of the knockout stages of the Qatar 2022 has already started taking shape. Argentina against the Netherlands will be the first fixture of the quarter-final.

Netherlands enjoyed a convincing victory over USA to book a place in the quarter-final while Argentina were made to work for their 2-1 victory over Australia.

Sergio Aguero has now offered open advice to his friend and countryman Lionel Messi and how to deal with the threat posed by Liverpool's defender Virgil Van Dijk.

Aguero and Van Dijk played against each other during Aguero's time at City and if anyone knows him well it is Aguero.

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Sergio Aguero's advice to Messi

Sergio Aguero could have possibly been playing at this year's World Cup if he did not retire due to heart problems, but that hasn't stopped him from advising his country.

Aguero, who had epic battles with Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk during his time in the Premier League, spoke to ESPN Argentina, quoted by Liverpool Echo.

''He is not fast; he has long legs: 10 sprints from me are two from him. You have to distract him with something else… someone to yell at him from the stands. If I’m there, I’ll start talking to him there. He’s big. Once in the Premier League, he said that the most difficult to play against was me.''

Van Dijk has been criticised for moving away from tackles and Aguero has confirmed that by saying he is not the one to go out and push.

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''He plays with your physique; that is, he is measuring you and you have to find a manoeuvre for him…, because he is not one to go out and push. He lets you receive; he waits for you to throw him the long ball and he puts his body in and bye. He plays like that.”

Aguero defends Messi against Alvarez

Sports Brief earlier reported that Aguero defended Messi against Canelo Alvarez after the Mexican boxer threatened Messi for disrespecting his country.

Messi exchanged shirt with Andres Guardado after Argentina's 2-0 win over Mexico and appeared to have kicked the jersey while trying to remove his boots.

Alvarez later apologised for his threats claiming he learnt something new. Andres Guardado also condemned his compatriots for the unbridled remarks.